Official: Barcelona starting XI against Real Sociedad | La Liga | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to kick off their upcoming La Liga game against Real Sociedad soon at the Reale Arena. La Blaugrana, currently sitting at the very top of the La Liga table, will be hoping to secure another victory this time around as well. However, Real Sociedad will not be an easy challenge, even for a team as in-form as FC Barcelona.

That is why, even days before the game itself, it was expected that Hansi Flick would field a strong eleven for this encounter. One of the reasons behind that is the obvious difficulty of the encounter itself, but it is also the final game before the next international break for the Catalan giants.

Now, as the official starting lineup has been released, it seems that those expectations turned out to be true and the Barcelona coach has indeed fielded a starting eleven that looks drilled and determined to win.

In goal, to no one’s surprise, Inaki Pena starts as the player defending the Barcelona goal. So far this season, even in the absence of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, the Spaniard has given his coaches no reason to be worried about his starting place in the team and he continues to look solid.

Over in the defense, Inigo Martinez finds Pau Cubarsi to be his partner for this game. The two Spaniards will be tasked with stopping Real Sociedad’s advances while also maintaining Hansi Flick’s rather unique and dangerous high line.

On either side of them, Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde will be the players that provide width to the defensive line and will be looking to help both defensively and offensively throughout the game by combining their physical attributes and their technical qualities.

Right in front of them, Marc Casado and Frenkie de Jong will be the pairing that starts the game as the double pivot for Hansi Flick’s team. Their role will be to connect both defense to attack while also ensuring that they control the momentum and tempo of the game itself as per Barça’s needs.

In the attacking zone of the midfield, Raphinha starts as the primary danger man and he is supported by Pedri’s creative touch and Fermin Lopez’s directness and dynamism. Their goal will be to hurt Real Sociedad as much as possible on the attack while also staying in contact with the ace striker up front.

Up front, Robert Lewandowski starts as the focal point of the attack and the Polish ace will be hoping to add even more goals to his already impressive tally this season. Winning this game is crucial, and Hansi Flick’s trusted target man will be the one leading the frontline for this encounter.